Getting to Know Windows 8 and You

A few months ago, David Pogue, the personal technology columnist at The New York Times, penned his weekly column on how to choose a tablet.

The holiday gift-giving guide recommended the usual suspects: the various iterations of the Apple iPad, including its new sibling the iPad mini; a variety of Android-based tablets; and the latest Kindle Fire upgrade. But conspicuously absent was any mention of the recently released Surface RT from Microsoft and devices from other OEMs running Windows 8 and its Windows Store (aka Metro)-only Windows RT.

I was miffed by the omission because I knew Pogue was quite familiar with the most significant revamp of Windows ever. As author of a number of the O'Reilly Media guides on how to use Windows 7, (as well as Vista and XP), Mac OS X Lion and iPhone, Pogue's latest book is "Windows 8: The Missing Manual" (also from O'Reilly Media), officially released today.

Wondering what led to the Windows 8 exclusion, I asked Pogue if it ended up on the cutting room floor, or if perhaps he simply didn't consider the Surface RT -- with the new Windows 8 and Windows RT touch-enabled interface -- a legitimate tablet. I made clear my interest was in understanding his point of view on the matter, not to critique his column.

In his response, Pogue reiterated he'd spent a lot of time with Windows 8 and had already covered it weeks earlier -- ­and would have more to say in the future (and he did). I invited him to share his favorite Windows 8 tips with Redmond readers and his result is this month's cover story, "20 Windows 8 Tips."  While editing it, I tested his tips, and hope they're as useful to you as I found them. Be sure to share your own Windows 8 advice at Redmondmag.com or send your tips directly to me at [email protected].

Quite a few Redmond readers have taken a wait-and-see stance regarding Windows 8. Many of you panned the preview version before its Oct. 26, 2012, release, while others have warmed up to it. Personally, the more time I've spent with it, the more I've come to like it. But in order for Windows 8 to succeed, the catalog in the Windows Store is going to need many more apps.

Just over four months after the OS release, Microsoft recently disclosed it has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses. But PC shipments have declined. Microsoft is betting it can make up for that in sales of Windows tablets.

I encourage you to get to know Windows 8. And I'd like to get to know you better. This is my first Redmond View column as Redmond magazine's new editor (available in March's Redmond magazine), though I'm no stranger here, having covered IT and Microsoft since the early 1990s -- and spent the last six years with this publication and its sister titles.

But enough about me. A number of exciting things are in the pipeline for Redmond, including a refresh of Redmondmag.com and an extensive readership survey that will help us understand where you are and where you're headed. We look forward to publishing the results.

Technology has shifted rapidly over the past few decades, and now it's changing faster than ever. In the meantime, I want to hear from you. Drop me a line at [email protected].

Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 02/27/2013 at 1:15 PM